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first book review. { The Host. }

I decided that every once in awhile I will do a book review post, but considering I am a slower reader, I won't be doing them until once a month or sooner. Also considering that I hate schedules. •-•

Here is my first book review on here. Before you start reading, this is my very first book review... so, sorry in advance if I don't do it exactly right. •-•

movie cover

first edition cover

I recently (few weeks ago) finished The Host ( by Stephenie Meyer ) , and absolutely LOVED it. As some of you can tell, I cannot and will not stop talking about it. Is that a bad thing? I sure hope not. That's how good it is.

Some of you might know Stephenie Meyer as the author of the Twilight saga, I mean that's not a bad thing... But for some of you 'non' Twilight lovers ( like me ) might be questioning about reading it. Before I say anything, I haven't read or seen any of the Twilight books\movies, I just kind of know the gist of the story. The Host is nothing compared to Twilight. Some people that have read Twilight and The Host say it's nothing alike. They're two completely different types of books.

"Souls", a species of parasitic aliens, have invaded Earth, deeming the humans too violent to deserve the planet. When a Soul is implanted into a host body the consciousness of the original owner is eventually erased, leaving only their memories and knowledge. Wanderer, a Soul who was given her name for not living more than one host's life on any of eight previous planets, is placed in the body of Melanie Stryder, one of the last few humans who've managed to avoid capture. Wanderer is asked by a Seeker to look through Melanie's memories and see if there's anything that can lead them to other humans, but she is being mentally blocked, leading the Seeker to realize Melanie's consciousness is still alive and resisting control. As time goes by, Melanie's consciousness grows stronger and begins to communicate with Wanderer. Wanderer manages to uncover some of Melanie's memories, mainly about her younger brother Jamie and her boyfriend Jared Howe, another human she met while stealing food some years back. Through Melanie's memories Wanderer begins to love Jared and Jamie as well. Eventually, Melanie's presence becomes too much and Wanderer contemplates being re-implanted in another host, but as she's driving through the desert on the way to consult a Healer on her decision, Melanie inspires her to follow a series of landmarks she remembers to find her Uncle Jeb, hoping that Jared and Jamie will now be with him. Their quest seems fruitless, however, with Wanderer almost dying of dehydration, until she's happened upon by Uncle Jeb. He realizes Melanie's body has been taken over, but saves her life anyway. He takes her to his hideout; a large set of secret caves housing over thirty humans, including Jared and Jamie. Later on in the book Wanderer ( Wanda ) starts to grow closer to the humans, as do the humans to her, even though they wanted to kill her in the beginning ( besides Jamie and Jeb ). Soon, Ian confesses that he has romantic feelings for Wanda - not her host body, but her - and kisses her, but Melanie's repulsion and her own feelings for Jared make her confused, and she asks for time to think about it. Since, it's Melanie's body, not her's. Wanda is just a soul. Then there's a bit of jealously between Ian and Jared.

A lot of readers think that there are teams in this book, just like Twilight and The Hunger Games... But seriously there aren't any teams. Wanda or Melanie don't have to choose between two guys. They're already in love, well Melanie is at first, just two in one body. It's more like a love square than a love triangle. Besides the romance, there's a mix of the humans excepting Wanda and Wanda excepting herself as one of them.

Well, I guess you'll just have to read the book to find out more. ;)

The movie { click here to watch trailer }might still be in theaters but I don't think it is anymore. :( Once I've seen the movie, I will do a post about comparing the two ( movie to book ). Also, Stephenie Meyer is currently working on a sequel to The Host and eventually will have The Host part of a trilogy!

Here are some Q&A's about the book. :)

Q: Do you recommend this book to young adult fiction readers?

A: I definitely give this book a two thumbs up, all the way stars, and totally recommend it to anyone that has read The Hunger Games ( Suzanne Collins ) and Divergent ( Veronica Roth ).

Q: What ages do you recommend this book for?

A: I'd probably have to recommend this book to readers ages 15 or 16 and up. For some violence

( blood ) and romance.

Q: What do you like most about this book? Story, writing, ect.

A: I loved the whole story of the book, where it takes place, what's happening, the characters... I've never really read a book like it. I love Stephenie Meyer's writing skills. It wasn't really a confusing book, and I've read some books that are confusing. I caught on pretty well. At first I didn't think the story would be in Melanie's POV ( point of view ) instead of Wanda's because the story mainly revolves around Melanie and her past. It's really up to Wanda to get everything back that Melanie has lost. So, I enjoyed it very much.

Q: Favorite quote from the book and why?

A: "It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it. You are beautiful."

- Ian O'Shea (to Wanda), The Host

Why? Because it really has a lesson to it that I think everyone should learn from. Teaching you not to look at our outer appearances and look at who we really are. From the inside.

Q: Who do you like most, Jared or Ian?

A:Really? Must I answer this? * mutters to self * Ugh... There is no answer to this. I love them for multiple reasons. They are both strong and caring. I love how amazing Jared is and how caring Ian is.

But if I had to choose between the two it would have to be Ian... Just because he's the type of guy I love... He says the most amazing things, sees Wanda for who she really is, and is just.. caring and loving and so beautiful. Gahh why can't I have one??

Although, Jared is strong and would do anything for Melanie, so would Ian for Wanda. And Jared is so brave, he's just... perfect. <3

I love them both very much! :)

Q: Favorite part in the book and why?

A: Chapter 56; Welded, page 570-576. Why did I like this part so much?

( !!!Spoiler!!! )

Well, there's a lot of great parts in the book but this one was my favorite because,

First of all, it was so touching and beautiful...

Ian finds out that Wanda is going to die so that Melanie can have her body back to herself, since now they found out how to take the souls' out of the human bodies. Ian is devastated that Wanda will be leaving him. It is also the part when Wanda really realizes that she loves Ian and he will always be her love, even though she's lived 8 other lives, she's never loved anyone like him in her other lives. So, that was a really beautiful part, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I know, I am very emotionally attached to my fictional characters. •-•

Q: What did you dislike about this book?

A: There wasn't really anything I disliked about the book, not one thing. I honestly thought the book was going to be in Melanie's POV, and I was a bit disappointed to find that it is in Wanda's POV. But what I didn't know was, that Ian is one of the main characters in the story, so everything turned out better than I thought. Can't judge a book by it's cover. ;)

Q: What made you want to read "The Host"?

A: Well when I was fan-casting a character with Max Irons for Tobias from Divergent, I found out he was this movie called, The Host. And after a while I saw the trailer for the movie and that made me really want to read the book. :)

Q: What is the point of this story?

A: I think this story really teaches you what love really is. How beautiful and wonderful love truly. There's also a lot of loyalty towards family.

Hope you guys liked my book review, comment below what on you thought or if you have any questions regarding the book. :)

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Good review!! I've never done a book review before, but you pulled it off! I just love your blog Mackenzie!!!!! It's a CRIME you don't have more followers!! But I'm sure they'll come like bees to honey. :)

Is the interview with yourself? Sorry I just wanted to be sure :P Great job with the review! I've been meaning to get around to this book for a while. I don't really want to read Twilight quite yet, but I'm interested in The Host :)